Brazil's Attorney General's Office (PGR) is asking the Rio de Janeiro state government to provide more details about the major police operation.

247 - The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, recommended this Wednesday (29) that the government of Rio de Janeiro clarify whether the deadliest police operation in the state's history followed the guidelines determined by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), such as proportionality in the use of force, presence of an ambulance, action of the technical-scientific police, the use of cameras on uniforms, in patrol cars, among other determinations.

The police operation left 121 dead, according to statistics released by the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro, headed by Cláudio Castro. Initially, some estimates pointed to more than 130 dead. 

According to Jota PortalThe Attorney General's Office (PGR) made the request in a statement sent to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, after the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) filed a document with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) asking the Court to request information from Governor Claudio Castro regarding the operation.

“The amicus curiae requests that complementary and urgent measures be adopted for oversight and monitoring. It does not specify what it suggests, leaving no room for the Attorney General's Office to analyze and possibly endorse any concrete request. Certainly, complementary measures may be considered based on a more precise understanding of the facts that the information will provide,” wrote Gonet.

The following is a list of clarifications to be provided.

1. Preservation of the crime scene for forensic examination and conservation of evidence;

2. Immediate communication to the Public Prosecutor's Office;

3. Actions by the forensic police, through the dispatch of a specialized team to the properly preserved site, to carry out the forensic examinations, release the site and remove corpses;

4. Monitoring by the Internal Affairs Departments of the Civil and Military Police;

5. Use of body cameras by public security agents;

6. Use of cameras in police vehicles;

7. Justification and proof of the prior definition of the appropriate force level for the operation;

8. Compliance with constitutional guidelines regarding home searches;

9. Presence of an ambulance, with precise indication of the location where the vehicle remained during the operation;

10. Strict observance of the principle of proportionality in the use of force, especially during the entry and exit times of educational establishments. If this is not the case, please provide the specific reasons that made it necessary to carry out the actions during these periods;

11. The need for and justification, if any, for using educational or health establishments as an operational base for police forces, as well as any evidence of the use of these spaces for criminal activities that motivated the entry of the teams.

Data

Security agents were mobilized to execute 180 search and seizure warrants and 100 arrest warrants, 30 of which were issued by the state of Pará, which acted as a partner in the operation. The action resulted in the seizure of several tons of narcotics and 118 firearms, including 91 rifles.

According to a study published last year by the Group for the Study of New Illegalities at the Federal Fluminense University (Geni/UFF), in collaboration with the Fogo Cruzado Institute, Comando Vermelho was the only criminal faction that managed to expand its territory between 2022 and 2023 in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.

The survey indicated an 8,4% increase in the organization's dominance, which now controls 51,9% of the areas under the influence of criminal groups in the region. This advance allowed the faction to retake 242 square kilometers (km²) that had been seized by militias in 2021. 

That year, militias controlled 46,5% of the territories, while members of Comando Vermelho dominated 42,9%. See a little more about... history of the faction which has branches in more than 20 Brazilian states.